


Reading between the lines

by Galaxy_Kryptonite



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: And justice, Danny is sad, Gen, I haven't written in years, I know it, My return to writing, Oneshot, Reveals, Truth, Vlad isn't a dick as much, Vlad masters is my daddy, YOU KNOW IT, hissss, leave me alone, lol this is long now, oh weel, okay now, probably, sorry I couldn't help it, tags are fun on ao3, that's fine, this phandom is dead, yeah oops, years guys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2019-09-18 06:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16989978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galaxy_Kryptonite/pseuds/Galaxy_Kryptonite
Summary: edit: i'm having a hard time writing with this so I'm starting it with a new first chapter soon as i get it done. Plan on it being an actual story. Same plot, Danny is adopted and starts questioning the people around him.edit May 24th, 2019: I have the new prologue up for this story.





	1. Chapter 1

Masks

AN: The timeline is a little messed up, Vlad isn’t going after Maddie, but just after tearing the family apart eventually, but now just watching the family for ‘research’. (Which means he is enjoying the family if he’s being honest. Stupid Fruitloop can’t see they’d accept him with open arms) Anyways, just note that Jack and Maddie (not as much, bit still) enjoy his presence. Anyways, back to my let’s play of embarrass the hubris bastard.

 

Once again, a sleek black Benz Mercedes could be found in front of the Fenton’s strange household . People had grown accustomed to their Mayor visiting his dear friends in the afternoon around dinner time. They assumed that they had a peaceful dinner cooked by Mrs. Maddie Fenton and her beautiful daughter, Jasmine, but they couldn’t be any farther from the truth. 

In actuality, Maddie Fenton could not cook a bowl of cereal if she tried. Jasmine could care less, so focused on her studies that any other distraction besides another psychology book was nothing but a nuisance to her ‘Learning cave’ as young Daniel began to call her room. Seeing as neither Jack Fenton could cook without making another halfa, the duty of cooking came down to the two actual halfas.

And actually, it was not as destructive as you’d think.

At the home, Danny and his older counterpart Vlad Masters, had come to an agreement that the home was off limits to fighting, see as being surrounded by weapons that could easily kill them wasn’t the best place to be fighting as ghosts. Ita Vero, (1) a small truce was born between them. To be in all truthfulness, Danny enjoyed spending time with Vlad that didn’t included trying to kill or enslave the other or trying to stop another apocalypse. These small moments were very appreciated by both sides, even if they never said a word of it. They both enjoyed their time together in the kitchen working side by side for once without any threats or maliceness.

Although, Danny had thought he had the older man figured out by now, and oh boy.

 

How wrong was he.

___________________________________________________________________

In his defense, Vlad had thought Daniel would be there to have a nice evening with him cooking for the family of 4 and plus 1 . In their ‘family’ time, Daniel usually just chatted away while multitasking the food they were making, talking about how his teachers pressure him while he added the sauce to the spaghetti and stirred it together with the tiniest pinch of garlic. One time they were making pie for a desert, and Daniel got so caught up in his speech about how messed up the school system was, he accidentally froze the chocolate again and vlad had to remelt it- Do you even know how many ghost alarms that set off? Maddie and Jack sat on the counter and talked about capturing and dissecting ghost for the next 45 minutes until the ‘No ghost at the table’ rule established by Jazz took affect.

Except on this cloudy, cold night in November, Daniel apparently was quite.

Arriving at the Fenton household, Vlad knocked politely on the door and waited for Daniel to open the door and greet him like he usually does. Except for this time, Madeline opened the door to his surprise, which was quickly hidden, years of business do that to a man. She had her ginger hair swept back in a white, green stained bandana and she had her teal jumpsuit half way down, a dark grey tank top rising from her midsection. The sweat and hidden warriness from her body language was clearly evident to him.

“Maddie, good evening. Where’s Daniel?” Vlad said swiftly to the woman. He was never one for hesitation- it gets you nowhere in life.

“Well…” Maddie paused, glancing to the side behind her that had the stairs up the the bedrooms. “He’s..in his room. I’ll save you the trouble and warn you Vlad, he’s not in the best mood tonight. He hasn’t spoken all day.”

Vlad tilted his head in interest and concern as well, young Daniel so upset? That was cause for concern for their usually cheerful Danny. Yes, it was about 3 weeks until christmas and Vlad knew Daniel wasn’t that fond of it, but he heavily doubted that that was it. This was something even more…

Daniel hadn’t even come to open the door of insult him in someway or call him a ‘fruitloop’.

Something was seriously wrong, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that anxious feeling of uncertainness and unease grew more and more. Was something wrong in the ghost zone? No, he would have been updated...That left school and himself as a possible cause for this..crisis. Yes, he could call this a crisis, his godson was acting heavily out of character for his usual witty banter and gentle laughs.

“..Vlad?”

“Oh yes, I apologize, I was lost in thought.” Vlad quickly snapped himself back to reality. “ Do you think I could speak with Danny?”

He hated saying his nickname from his friends and family, but it showed his true concern to Madeline, so be it.

“Umm..” Maddie paused and let loose a sigh, “ I guess it couldn’t hurt.” Maddie stepped back to let Vlad into the house and see about her son. 

In all honesty, Maddie thought that Vlad talking to Danny could actually work. Vlad and Danny had a bipolar sorts of relation, sometimes they argued and fought like ghosts, and other times they acted like godfather and godson. Maddie wasn’t sure what their relationship was but she knew, she had that feeling that they did not either. Vlad Masters was a complex, complicated, strange, and lonely man, that anyone with her eyes could see easily. Behind all that pompous and pep (HA *slams table*wheeze*) he has is a sad, bitter man that couldn’t see the people who loved him as well as he should be able to, most likely due to that thick head of his.

Hanging his coat on the rack behind the door, and Vlad also took off his polished shoes as not alert Daniel anymore than he could of his presence. Well, him and Jack; As soon as Jack saw him, that lung-collapsing hug and way too loud voice would alert him immediately. Slipping past Maddie he headed to the stairs. Vlad decided to just let his ghost sense alert him after all.

Maddie whispered “Good Luck!” to Vlad before he began to ascend the stairs to see his little badger, Maddie knowing all too well what Jack would do. Vlad lifted a hand up to wave a small thanks to her with his back still turned to her to hide the red mist coming from his mouth. Daniel no doubt had his signature blue as well up in his room; Opposites in every way, morals, cores, lives...but it strangely didn’t bother him.

He could feel his ice core present before anything else, then his slow breathing,then one more noise he couldn’t quite figure out because of how silent it was. Only one way to know...Vlad took in another big breath as he arrived at the first door, Daniel’s room. He wasn’t the fondest of Vlad but he’s all he’s got right now. Vlad despited hesitation in all its forms so he put on a brave face a rapped gently on the door with that businessman confidence.

“Daniel?” He called out, trying to hide the concern and hope in his voice, “It’s Me, do you want to talk?”

Vlad waited in agony for a vocal reply for half a second before he actually received one- but not vocally. Daniel’s ice core sent out a pang of...he could only describe it as sadness, but accepted sadness.

It broke Vlad’s heart.

He immediately looked for any sign of Maddie and quickly phased through the door and-

Dear god, who broke this beautiful boy so badly?

Daniel was a mess to say the least. His room was messy and as scattered as the boy himself, clothes and objects thrown everywhere lazily and carelessly. Danny laid on his bed against the wall with the saddest look Vlad had ever seen on the boy. His hair was wind swept and scattered all over, his shirt looked dirty as if he had worn it for days on end now. He had managed to have grey pajamas were stained as well. His eyes, dear god, his eyes were overflowing with tears that had an icey blue tint to them. They were the color of the early morning sky, so hope filled and shining but the tears spoke to him in a way Daniel’s words could never. He had the eyes of the sky itself- and it seemed that the sky was crashing down on him in this very instance.

“..hi..” Danny just barely whispered through his gruffed up voice from crying, that tightness in his throat that had been there for hours now was finally caughting him. He gave Vlad a small smile as well, sad and exhausted as it was, Vlad returned it with care.

“Oh Daniel,” Vlad began to walk towards his bed and knelt before him, “What happened to you?” 

Danny looked up and gestured for Vlad to sit beside him against the wall with his hand shakily and Vlad followed his lead. He climb across the thick dark grey blue comforter and nestled into the spot beside him, and as soon as he did Danny tilted his body to lean into his arm. Vlad was shocked first and foremost because A) Daniel wasn’t the fondest of him. Hell, he was uncertain even why he of all people he let come in to comfort him. He really believed at this point that Daniel hadn’t talked to anyone else that day, B) He really looked like he needed someone right now, and Vlad was honored and extremely...happy to be.

Daniel closed his eyes as he snuggled closer to Vlad, Danny felt as if anyone would get this irony, Vlad would. Hell, he’d probably be the most excited out of everyone. Vlad would be ecstatic and so happy for this change in his life, or at least he hoped he would walk happily past his not so hidden sadness. 

He took a clearing breath and spoke to him and waited for his reply.

“I’m adopted.”


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

Danny never meant to find out.

He really didn’t, he was just thinking about the differences between him and his parents. How different they were on ghost, personalities, body sizes. He was just curious about what traits he got from who and why he seemed so different from his parents. Maybe he just had a bunch of recessive genes from the family? Heh, he even did a gene chart to track. 

And then he started to notice.

The 1’s and 2’s didn’t add to 3. Hair, eye, skin colors. Height, weight, body shape.

He kept going and going, finding more and more evidence that these people _weren’t his parents._ The eyes, hair, development. Even some dates didn’t add up. Looking at his ‘birth certificate’ it seemed that he and his mom- _Maddie-_ spent a whole extra week in the hospital. Maddie didn’t stay in hospitals more than absolutely necessary. These...weren’t right. 

Danny started freaking out. His parents _weren’t his parents._

 

_His parents weren’t his parents. His parents weren’t his parents. His parents weren’t his parents. His parents weren’t his parents. His parents weren’t his parents.His parents weren’t his parents.His parents weren’t his parents.His parents weren’t his parents.His parents weren’t his parents.His parents weren’t his parents._

Danny could only think of one person who would help him find the truth. 

He dearly wished it was Jazz, but she probably knew. She would cover with that she was trying to protect him, which was bullshit, and danny knew it. Sam would tell him he shouldn’t care who is parents are. But he did care. Tucker and Valerie would tell him ‘They’ll tell you when they think your ready!’ They would never think he was ready.

Only one person, the one person he never wanted to ask for help, could do it this time. Only him.

It was time to call Vlad.

* * *

Vlad was very confused when Daniel texted him late that night. Danny only ever texted him to _stop being a dick_ and not much else. It was about 11 o’clock that night when he had been doing paperwork for his company when his personal phone received a text. Now, very few people had his personal number; Danny, his secretary Persephone, and a few important business and ghostly connections.

_Bzzzzrt_

**Daniel: Casper High. I need help with something. asap. Deals with family.**

My, my, that is interesting.

 

Vlad spun his chair around to look out the glass walls over Amity Park. Over in the not-far distance, a figure was heading towards the only high school for miles, Casper High. He smirked and watched on in curiosity and thought about what this could be.

“ _Well Daniel,_ ” Vlad purred out loud. “ _What do we have here?_ ”

 

**End Prologue**


End file.
